De Boer flattens Thistle

Rangers received a reality check about their European ambitions with a painful lesson in Prague in midweek, but that was nothing to the one they handed out to Partick Thistle at Ibrox yesterday.

The gulf between the Scottish Premier League and the First Division was vividly underlined for Glasgow's third club as they crossed the River Clyde after an absence of six years. The swagger of promotion has gone; this was about damage limitation.

Ronald de Boer, though, did plenty of swaggering. The former Barcelona forward cast aside his role as scapegoat in the Uefa Cup defeat by Viktoria Zizkov with two fine goals for the SPL leaders.

The last time Partick Thistle came here on League duty, six years ago, Ibrox was still in the grip of Gazzamania. These days Peter Loven-krands is the darling of the fans. The Dane carved his name into their hearts with the dramatic goal which won the Scottish Cup final last season against Celtic, and clearly he has a thing for Glasgow teams. Lovenkrands found the net with just three minutes gone after Barry Ferguson's free-kick had been knocked back by Craig Moore for De Boer to swivel and unleash a shot. The Thistle goalkeeper, Kenny Arthur, parried it, but Lovenkrands pounced to drill in the rebound.

Partick's game plan seemed in tatters even this early, yet the newly promoted side worked hard in midfield to get back into it. Indeed, had Jamie Mitchell profited from Martin Hardie's deft flick then the game would have been level, but Stefan Klos saved superbly at the tiny striker's feet.

Rangers found few occasions to add to their lead, though De Boer came close with a shot on the turn after 21 minutes. The Dutchman, however, would not be denied six minutes later.

Yet again, Partick were undone by a set piece and once more they suffered a lapse in concentration. Maurice Ross's throw-in was not cleared properly and when it fell to De Boer, lurking unmarked at the back post, he conjured up an overhead kick which flew past Arthur.

Partick ought to have halved the deficit seconds before the interval when Ricky Waddell's corner had Klos stranded, but Hardie's header flew wide.

Partick knew they had to secure the next goal otherwise the contest was finished, and despite a disguised free-kick from Arteta, which Arthur scrambled clear, their quest kept the Rangers defence occupied.

It took the combined efforts of Klos and Lorenzo Amoruso to keep out Hardie as the midfielder climbed to reach Alex Burns's cross. However, when Rangers cared to, they opened up their opponents easily and Lovenkrands placed a header wide before Ferguson's venomous shot from the edge of the box was beaten out by Arthur.

Hardie threatened again to cut the gap in the 68th minute, with an ambitious volley from 30 yards after substitute Gerry Britton flicked the ball into his path, but the vulnerability of their situation was exposed 60 seconds later as Rangers broke on the counterattack and inflicted a third goal.

Arteta threaded a fine pass down the left for Lovenkrands to shred full-back David Lilley with his pace. The Dane then whipped a low ball across the face of goal for De Boer to angle his foot and provide an emphatic finish.